Smoke Signals
by Monkeybarrel
Summary: Closeness brought on by an autumn night when a blanket just doesn’t cut it anymore. Yar, there be yaoi here.


Warnings- Yaoi bits, language

Disclaimer- Minekura Kazuya owns all that is her Saiyuki.

Notes- A product of a timed challenge (so, yes, quite short).  I hope it can be enjoyed and feedback is always-always appreciated.  Thank you.  ^_^

Smoke Signals

It was too cold to sleep.  He opened his eyes and stared up into the sky above.  A clear sky stared back at him.  He started counting the stars in hopes that he would drop off eventually, but he kept going over the same ones by accident so he'd have to start all over.

"16, 17…ah, fuck…" He miscounted again.  The whole thing was making him angry which moved the chances of sleep even further off.  

He looked away from the stars and faced the camp.  Sanzo was on the ground by the fire, his back to him.  Goku was wrapped in the blanket that had covered the back of the jeep and lay curled up near the monk.  Gojou smirked as he searched his pockets for his cigarettes.  It didn't matter where the saru started at night.  When they camped out like this, he always ended up rolling over towards Sanzo.  He was sure that this was one reason why the monk always got a separate room if they stopped at an inn.  No matter how determined he was, the saru wouldn't try rolling through doors.  Not with that gun on the other side. 

When the thought of staying at an inn popped up and began to spread its warmth and comfort in his mind, Gojou's mood darkened.  The last week they had been camping far off the road, and no matter how much he complained, the monk wouldn't allow one step near a village.

"We've been attacked at every inn since we left the desert," Sanzo had said earlier, his voice filled with bitterness.  "Until we can figure out who's tailing us, we're staying off the road.  So quit your bitching, or feel free to leave."  He started towards the woods without giving any of them a glance back.

"But it's fucking freezing at night now!" Gojou yelled to his back, but the monk only flipped him off and then disappeared into the forest.  "Cry me a river, ero-gappa," he heard rise out from the darkness of the trees.

"What the- I'll show you a fucking river," He started to jump down from the jeep to follow when a soft pressure fell on his shoulder.  He turned to see Hakkai's calm smile and then an armload of blankets. 

"This may help for the cold." He said lightly.  "Would you mind helping me carry them?"  Gojou only nodded in response.  His anger always seemed to ebb away with his old roommate around.  He grabbed some of the blankets and turned to the back of the jeep.

"Oi, saru, wake up."  He knocked on Goku's shoulder armor, jostling the sleeping boy.  "Queen Monk says we're stopping here."

As Goku rubbed his eyes and started to ask about dinner, Gojou just left the pair in the jeep and trucked the blankets into the woods.  Squinting up into the sky, he saw the sun begin its slip down.   The nights had been getting shorter all month.  It was barely evening and the sky was already going dark.  He grimaced and stepped between the trees, his feet crunching on leaves as he walked.  Whatever warmth the day had he felt was slipping away with the sun, leaving only a chill behind.  Moving further into the dark, he wondered once again why he was doing all of this.  His steps crunched louder and louder as he moved to where they would camp.  "Stupid monk…stupid quest…stupid fucking camping…"

Gojou stubbed out the end of his cigarette into the ground and hugged his arms around his chest.  He couldn't tell in the darkness, but he felt for sure that the smoky air into front of him wasn't just from his cigarette.  "Cheap-ass monk" he cursed and brought his blanket up to his chin.  He started to lie down again but when he looked down to clear the ground, he saw that something had rolled up to him in the night too.  

Even in the dark, it was easy to recognize Hakkai's long form, curled up just a few spaces away.  Without thinking, Gojou stretched his hand out, feeling the ground near him, and his searching fingers came across cool glass.  Hakkai had removed his monocle.  He moved his hand further and felt soft hair and then skin.  He brushed the other man's forehead, his fingers falling just above where the eyeglass would be.  It was always weird to see him without it.  It was only in the bath or late night like this when he'd see all of Hakkai's face.  His slight touches didn't seem to disturb the other's sleep and his fingers fell further down until he felt the slightly raised skin of the scar across his right eye.  The wound was hard to notice in the light of day and behind the shine of his eye-glass, but here in the dark, the line stood out to his touch and he traced it down to the cheek, where the line fell into smooth, unblemished skin.  Gojou bit his lip, unsure of what was happening as his fingers continued to move from Hakkai's cheek to his chin.  He held them right above the other man's lips, and could feel air warm his skin, but he didn't touch.

He felt suddenly strange, warm and confused, like Hakkai's breath had somehow gone into his skin and mixed into his blood, mixing him up as well.  He bit his lip and moved his face closer.  The chilly air that seemed to have surrounded him all night fell away as he closed the distance between his breath and Hakkai's.  His face was now where his fingers had been only a moment ago.  He breathed in slowly, filling himself with the warmth now all around them.  The air was as mixed as he felt, dry and chilly with a hint of smoke that seemed to fall from the barren trees above them.  He closed his eyes, and blamed the air and the cold and that smoky smell as he dropped his lips down to breathe in further.  

In their little dark far from the fire, he felt a light touch on his cheek, as soft as an eyelash.  He raised his head to see a scar now open.

"…I…" he stumbled but fingers stopped his lips and then moved their way up to his own eyes, covering them.  He heard movement behind Hakkai's hand and then felt warmth by his ear.

"Still cold?"  Gojou felt the air on his cheek as Hakkai laughed quietly.

"Hey, I was just-" he moved to take Hakkai's hand away, but the other just took his hand and pulled him up.

"Shhhh…" He whispered and started to guide him deeper into the wood.  "You know how Sanzo hates to be woken up."

"The monk can suck it for all I care," Gojou muttered under his breath, but he was careful as he walked, and hoped the leaves wouldn't betray them too much as they moved further into the smoky dark.  But then any thought of the monk's anger was lost as he fell into the warmth that only a cool night can give.

The next morning found him humming as he smoked over the last of his breakfast.  Sanzo glared at him from across the fire.  "What are you so happy about?"

"Ah, nothing." He smiled at his breath formed small clouds in the cool morning air.  "Just...this camping thing.  It's alright.  Good for the soul, you know?"

Sanzo just looked at him through narrowed eyes.  He stood up and started towards the jeep where Hakkai was already packing up.  "I know when I hear that from you, it's time to stop doing this."

Gojou just smirked in response and moved to put out the fire, still softly humming as the last signs that they had stayed the night mixed into the air and disappeared. 

^^          


End file.
